NBA Parlay – Celtics and Bulls in the Win Colum

The Miami Heat blow into the windy city tonight to face the Chicago Bulls in a match-up of the first 2 overall picks in this season’s draft class Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Chicago passed up on Beasley to take Rose first overall, and he is looking like a lock for rookie of the year. Chicago has won 3 of 5 games, including their last game at home to the Detroit Pistons. The Heat have lost 3 of 5 games and their wins have come against weak opponents. Miami has not faired well on the road this season, possessing a record of 10-15, while the Bulls have a strong home record of 14-10. The Bulls are playing much better of late, just in time for the playoff race to heat up. Rose is running the team better and better each game and his improvement will be seen by the Heat tonight as they face a different player than the one they saw in Miami in December. The BetOnline Sportsbook has the Chicago Bulls a 4 point favorite at home, and I like Chicago to cover that spread.

NBA free pick: BetOnline Sportsbook: Chicago Bulls (-4.0)

The defending champion Boston Celtics are in Dallas taking on the Mavericks in a game with two teams playing well and looking for a positive game going into the All-Star break. The Boston Celtics beat up the Hornets in their own hive, which stopped a mini 2 game losing streak. Both losses came in 4th quarter come from behind wins by the Lakers and the Spurs. These were close games against the top 2 teams in the West, and the Celtics look to improve on their previous beat down of the Mavericks 124-100 only 3 weeks ago. Boston has won 8 straight road games and had a 12 game winning streak before the Lakers beat them in overtime.

The Mavericks, however, have been on a roll themselves. They have won 7 of 10 games overall, and 5 straight at home. They have a home record of 17-7 and are on a 3 game home stand before the break having already won the first 2. Dallas is well rested being at home and having not played since Tuesday, and are hoping the aging Celtics will be tired and slow coming into town after a game last night. But the Celtics know that they have an extended break coming up, and will be more capable of shutting down the Mavericks since they have recently lost their second leading scorer Jason Terry for up to six weeks with a broken hand. Dirk Nowitzky will have to carry the load as usual against a strong defensive team, but now the likes of Josh Howard, Antoine Wright, or Jason Kidd will have to put up considerable numbers in order to defeat a powerhouse such as the Celtics. The loss of Terry will be the main reason why Dallas won’t be able to stand up to the champs tonight.

NBA free pick: BetOnline Sportsbook: Boston Celtics (-3.5)